Turbulence generated by invading structures in pipes introduces uncertainties into measurements using ultrasonic flowmeters. A numerical model based on large eddy simulation (LES) is developed here to study the features of turbulent errors in a typical U-shaped ultrasonic flowmeter. According to the flow structures obtained by LES, a one-dimensional turbulent spectrum and probability density function of helicity along the effective ultrasonic propagation path are calculated. It can be seen that the turbulent error is dominated by the large-scale anisotropic vortices in a specific range on the sampling line, and the anisotropic vortices have the common largest fluctuating scales in the error-dominated area in which the Reynolds number (Re) exceeds 15,000. The results provide possibilities for reducing the turbulent error by limiting the largest fluctuating scale through structure optimization. The probability density function of streamwise helicity is first introduced to unveil the continuous turbulent development in an ultrasonic flowmeter, which has the potential to contribute to turbulent analyses.
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